Sanford Health has made its first investment in an international hospital.

The health system’s German subsidiary has acquired a minority interest in ISAR Klinik II AG, which includes a hospital in Munich, Germany.

Sanford Health CEP Kelby Krabbenhoft says the investment is a significant step in its goal to advance health care around the world. Krabbenhoft says the hospital’s ground-breaking procedures and medical technology are well-known.

Since 2015, Sanford Health has arranged for American patients to travel to the Munich hospital, ISAR Klinikum, to have access to stem cell therapies allowed in Germany. Sanford has also sent 11 physicians to the hospital to better understand the impact of those therapies.